Hyundai Solati

Step into the cabin of the Hyundai Solati, and it’s hard to believe that it is an almost decade-old cabin. For a commercial van meant to ferry people from one place to another, the cabin layout looks decently modern with ample features on board that make it one of the most well-equipped interiors among people movers.

The Hyundai Solati has a V-themed steering wheel with silver touches around the side spokes, which will remind many of the premium steering wheel offered in the previous-generation Sonata and Santa Fe. This multi-functional steering wheel has an informative instrument console with a TFT MID in between the traditional analogue gauges. The uppermost layer of the dashboard has flat cavities across its width for storing items with large surface areas.

The centre console of the Hyundai Solati has an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system taking centre stage, which has audio controls to its sides and is flanked by vertically aligned trapezoidal AC vents. There is a cluster of buttons for the manual AC, parking lights, 12V power outlet and chargers in the lower centre console below the infotainment screen. The Hyundai Solati also gets a dashboard-mounted transmission lever an open cavity in the centre and rectangular AC vents on the corners of the dashboard.

The Hyundai Solati has a seating capacity of 14 people, with all the passengers getting individual AC vents for their added comfort. The van also comes with additional features like rain-sensing wipers, auto headlamps, cruise control, a storage tray with a 12V power outlet on the upper dashboard, a pull-out cup holder drawer and deep door pockets for added practicality and convenience.

The overall design language of the Hyundai Solati is based on the previous-generation commercial vans from the Korean vehicle maker. However, despite that fact, the Solati looks decent by modern-day standards, with the overall stance of the van being tall and rightfully boxy for liberating ample space on the inside.

The front profile of the Hyundai Solati has a traditional hexagonal grille, which has been the face of all Hyundai commercial vans for a long time now. This hexagonal grille has gloss black surrounds and horizontal slats on the inside. The upper edges of the grille are flanked by trapezoidal headlamp clusters, which house halogen projectors and L-shaped series daytime running LED below them. The front bumper of the Solati also looks stylish with hollow air passages and halogen fog lamps below them on the corners.

The side profile of the Hyundai Solati looks like any other traditional full-size people mover, with this Hyundai van having large-sized window panels. While the front windows have sloping lower edges, the rearmost window panels have tapered lower edges. There is a thick crease which runs sideways from front to rear of the side profile of the Solati, with the wheels here having rounded wheel arches over them. The Hyundai Solati also has body cladding over the wheel arches and bottom of the door panels, which extend from the front bumper moulding.

At the back, the Hyundai Solati has a traditional appearance with a large and boxy look, with a huge windscreen covering the upper half of the rear profile. The Solati gets split doors at the rear, with the van also having vertically aligned halogen tail lamps on the sides of the rear profile. The offset license plate housing in the left-hand side rear door of the Solati completes the rear look of the van.

The Hyundai Solati comes with a suspension setup of McPherson strut-type independent suspension with a transverse leaf at the front and rigid-type parabolic leaf springs at the rear. The twin-tube gas-charged shock absorbers on the front & rear offer decent comfort levels, especially over longer journeys. However, the boxy appearance and tall stance mean that there is significant body roll at higher speeds.

The only engine and transmission combination offered in the Hyundai Solati is a 2.5-litre four-cylinder diesel engine paired with a 6-speed manual transmission. This engine has already proven its worth in many commercial vehicles from Hyundai, and in the Solati, it claims a maximum power output of 170 PS and a peak torque output of 421 Nm.

The basic safety equipment list offered in the Hyundai Solati covers all the essentials, such as dual front airbags, ABS, brake assist, hill start assist, emergency stop signal, heated and powered ORVMs, reverse parking sensors, and reverse camera.

The Hyundai Solati performs its job of ferrying people from one place to another with absolute assurance, relying highly on its comfortable and well-equipped cabin and reliable engine.